Aging buses and rail cars will be rehabilitated. Pocked roads will be resurfaced. Bridges will be built, and others will be painted to extend their lives.

Three weeks after President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus package -- billed as an economic lifeline and job-creation engine for the states -- the Corzine administration outlined yesterday how it will spend nearly $900 million of New Jersey's share on scores of transportation projects.

The plans run from the relatively modest -- improving drainage around flood- prone roads -- to items that will run tens of millions of dollars each. The single largest chunk -- $130 million -- will serve as a down payment on construction of a second rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, a project that has been coveted by transportation officials for decades.

New Jersey already has committed $1.25 billion in toll revenues to the tunnel. Separately, NJ Transit has secured $1.5 billion in funding. The $130 million earmarked yesterday is an additional investment on the project, which is expected to cost $8.7 billion by the time it's completed in 2017, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Erin Phalon said.

Gov. Jon Corzine released the list of projects late yesterday afternoon, hours after the Obama administration detailed how transportation spending from the stimulus pot will be apportioned around the country.

In all, New Jersey will receive at least $1.1 billion for highway, bridge and mass transit work. Up to $100 million more will be shared with New York and Pennsylvania for regional transit projects, though the breakdown had not been finalized yesterday, said Penny Bassett Hackett, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit.

The governor outlined about $893 million in work. Under the terms of the stimulus package, the remainder of New Jersey's share will be spent by three "metropolitan planning organizations": the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization.

Corzine, faced with a debilitating budget crisis that could result in layoffs to state workers, hailed the influx of cash earmarked for transportation, saying it would create thousands of jobs and improve safety and quality of life for people across the state.

"Through the flow of funds to projects that can start in a matter of weeks, the federal stimulus package will reinvigorate New Jersey's economy and mitigate the impacts of the national recession," Corzine said in a statement.

Similar expressions came from New Jersey's U.S. senators, Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, and from several members of the state's congressional delegation.

"This investment is going to put people to work, and it's going to do it fast," Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.) said.

Obama signed the stimulus package into law Feb. 17. Since then, some money has begun trickling into New Jersey to repair affordable housing, help the homeless and improve energy efficiency, among other projects.

On Wednesday New Jersey's police departments were awarded $47.7 million.

In total, the state is expected to receive about $10 billion in direct aid, plus $7.5 billion in tax relief.

Among the projects outlined yesterday, the state will spend $25 million for repairs and safety upgrades along Route 78 in Newark, the scene of frequent serious accidents. Busy Route 287 will be resurfaced in sections of Middlesex and Somerset counties.

Scores of overpasses and bridges will be repainted. More than $47 million will go toward improving drainage and replacing bridges along flood-prone Route 46 in Lodi.

Among the mass transit projects, about $70 million has been set aside to rehabilitate NJ Transit's fleet of buses, passenger rail cars and locomotives. Parking lots will be expanded. New bus shelters will be built.

The state's growing investment in the Hudson River rail tunnel suggests confidence that the project will be awarded a huge amount of federal money. The state, NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have applied for $3 billion in federal funds outside of New Jersey's stimulus share.

While the Federal Transit Administration has given the project final approval for the work, New Jersey and its partner agencies have yet to hear whether the billions will begin to flow.

The tunnel has long been a top priority for planners, who call it a "transformational" project that will reduce congestion on New Jersey's roads, ease the commute to Manhattan and spur thousands of jobs.